Becoming What You Read, Watch and Hear—It’s All About Worldview
What will you be reading, watching and listening to this weekend? What magazines do you subscribe to? What Book of the Month Club or Goodreads selections do you make? What television shows, or movies, are on your must-watch list?
Does it matter?
I proclaim a resounding “Yes!” It does matter. Very much.
What you read, watch and listen to are just as vital as the spiritual and physical components of a well-balanced life. Why? There are several reasons.
- The brain functions like a big camera with permanent film and cataloging capacity. The images you show it are imprinted on the brain. And those images can produce chemicals that cause mood changes, stimulation, and brain chemical alterations. That’s one reason pornography is so insidious and addictive. The images get imprinted and can flashback at any time. And, if responded to, can cause the need for more and more stimulation. Like a drug.
- Along the same lines, the brain also functions like a big memory bank for words and music. Music is a powerful one that can alter brain chemistry at the moment of listening. That memory is stored. When the music is heard again, sometime later, those chemicals are dumped into the system again, and the reaction is repeated. That’s one of the reasons music can trigger so many past memories and emotional reactions (like melancholy). Scientists know that repeated, methodical drumming and pounding can change the brain, for the worse. That kind of music really is brain-deadening.
- Reading triggers complex thoughts and brain chemical reactions too. What woman hasn’t read a revealing romance novel without having some kind of physical and emotional response during the sex scenes? One thing leads to another, and soon she’s lamenting how her husband isn’t as manly or romantic as the character. Then resentment might creep in, resentment severe enough to affect how she treats her spouse.
In many ways, because women are so word and speech-oriented, I don’t think romance novels or graphic erotica novels are much different for women than pornography is for men, who are visually oriented. Women can replay that detailed, written sex scene in their minds and get the same chemical response as when they first read it.
Taking stock of spent time and how you’re feeding yourself—
Don’t think twice about spending $10 of your hard-earned money to watch an hour and a half of a lame movie, or one rife with sex scenes that would have garnered an X rating thirty years ago? If so, have you ever considered that you’re really just paying someone (the theater, and production company) to be a legal voyeur? A Peeping Tom? If you sneaked a look into someone’s bedroom while they were enjoying intimate relations, you’d be arrested. Why do we think it’s okay, and gratifying, to pay to do it? And sit there with a bunch of strangers watching at the same time?
How many hours do you waste reading magazines about famous people? What they’re doing, how they’re living and treating themselves and one another? Why do we care so much, anyway? Are we that bored with our own lives? Are we trying to live vicariously through them, keep up with them, be like them?
Really why it all matters—
The core reason all this matters is because everything you read, watch or listen to shapes your worldview. And your worldview specifically affects how you live your life—the decisions you make, the way you interpret life and world events. (If you’re unfamiliar with what worldview is, you’ll want to keep reading my blog because we’ll be getting into that specifically in a Meditation Mondays post this month.)
There’s a reason the Apostle Paul wrote:
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, NKJV).
I LOVE how Eugene Peterson puts this in The Message.
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work into his most excellent harmonies.”
Sadly, I think one of our greatest problems is that we’ve compromised so much with our lives, given others way too much of our precious, priceless time. We have become so willing to allow ourselves to be fed ugly, worst, un-praiseworthy things that we’ve become immune to the ugly and forgotten what the beautiful is.
Weekend Challenge
- Make a deliberate, conscious decision to be really selective about what you read, watch and listen to this weekend. Try turning off the political radio talk shows and turn on some good music.
- Better yet, shut off your phone, television and radio and go outside to listen to and watch nature. It’s amazingly entertaining and invigorating. Good for brain, emotional, physical and spiritual health.
- Close the magazines and do the above. Don’t even ruffle through the ones at the store checkout lane.
- Start counting the hours you read this kind of stuff, in print or on line. You may be surprised at how much of your precious time it steals.
A final word
Before I sign off, I’d like to leave you with a quote from the author Annie Dillard, found in her book The Writing Life.
“The writer…is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, because that is what he will know” (page 68).
Isn’t that true for all of us, no matter what our profession or status. We will know what we have learned, and we will write what we’ve read about.
Choose the best, and watch your life change for the better!
Have a great, inspiring weekend!
Leave a comment on the blog page and let me know how you spent it.
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).
Photo © Andrea A Owan